PIKEVILLE, Ky. - John Correll, deputy assistant secretary of labor for mine safety and health and officials of Alliance Resource Partners will hold a joint press conference at the Excel #3 mine, Pikeville, Thursday, March 3. The news conference will highlight a successful effort to extinguish a fire that started while the underground coal mine was idle during the Christmas holiday.

Personnel from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing, and MC Mining LLC cooperated successfully to put out the fire. More than 90 rescue personnel worked over 3,000 hours in extreme heat and in mine openings as low as 18 inches to contain the fire. No one was injured in the fire or subsequent recovery.

Representatives from both organizations will speak at the press conference, which will include a presentation of resources used during the mine recovery, as well as demonstrations of the MSHA robot, apparatus and mine gas monitoring devices.